Influence of traffic flow intensity on environmental noise pollution

Abstract

The modern urban environment, with the development of industry, the growth of the vehicle's number on the roads, and the increase in the density of buildings, is increasingly capable of negatively affect the health and well-being of the city's population. Among the factors influencing the environment is noise pollution, namely man-made noise - unwanted and harmful sounds created as a result of human activities. Today, noise is one of the most common factors of pollution among all others. The most common source of noise pollution is transport, including cars and trucks, buses, railways, airplanes, etc. The negative phenomenon of traffic noise is that almost everyone is greatly affected. This can often be accompanied by other harmful factors, such as vibration. According to scientific researches, noise can cause irritation under constant acoustic exposure. As a result, there are sleep disorders, decreased mental capacity, and the development of stress, and stress development in humans. Traffic noise is created from the operation of engines, the friction of wheels with the road surface, brakes, and aerodynamic features of vehicles, etc. In general, the level of traffic noise depends on such basic indicators as the intensity, speed, and composition of the traffic flow. Therefore, an important task is the study of traffic noise, its measurement, the establishment of appropriate dependencies, and further evaluation of the results. Knowing the level of noise generated by vehicles, further measures to reduce it are possible, such as redistribution of traffic flows on the road network, speed limits, improving the quality of the road surface, the use of basic means of reducing noise pollution, the use of noise protection devices, etc. Based on this, the negative impact of this phenomenon on the human body and the environment, in general, can be reduced.

Patterns of changes in the acoustic characteristics on public transport linear segments

“…It is also worth noting that these results are obtained for a traffic flow where buses make up only 3.6 % of the total traffic volume. Also, in the analyzed studies, some results indicated a significant influence of the road surface and the volume of the traffic flow on the noise level of sections of arterial streets [6]. The traffic flow moving on a cobblestone road surface was determined to generate a 20 dBA higher noise level than asphalt concrete (70 vs. 50 dBA).…”